Heya! Sophie from O’Rorke here and as I write this, we have already reached the end of O Week *gasp!*

Almost from the get go, Auckland has offered so many exciting new exploring opportunities! Coming from the small (but pretty!) city of New Plymouth in Taranaki, seeing all the high-rise buildings, the shops and the BUBBLE TEA places excited me to no end. From going out for Korean food on my second day with people that I had only just met, to finding the bizarre but cute “chair socks” in Daiso, the well-known Japan mart, Auckland has opened my eyes even more to the world around me as the city itself is always alive with culture. A highlight in my discoveries of Auckland however must be walking past the biggest, fluffiest therapy dogs outside AUT and subsequently grinning my face off for the following 3 hours and excitedly recounting the experience to a few friends. As a person that has never lived in Auckland, I would recommend getting out to walk around the city especially in your first week at the uni, just to get a flavour of the many textures all around.

Even though being at UoA has been all round AMAZING so far, hands down the most enjoyable aspect of uni life has been the connections formed throughout my floor, especially in the 730’s pod, my pod of 6 people. From the late-night chats in our various rooms, bottle flipping (yes… I know… hehe) and Sensation Chicken runs to wondering when on earth our lime flavoured jelly in a sandcastle mould would set (sadly, it never did… then my podmate drank it). I have been extremely lucky being put on floor 7 with Callum the RA. All the activities that he and the other RA’s have organised for us have been incredible. It would be too much to highlight every event, but trust me when I say that you’ll never be bored in O Week; and it has been one of the most fun weeks I’ve had in a while! Events such as ‘Beach Day Out’ and O’Rorke’s formal dinner left me with the cheesiest smile on my face and I am so glad to have got involved with as much as possible.

You’d honestly be surprised at how close a group of people can become… over working out how on earth to tie a toga.

Based on my first week in O’Rorke, I would highly recommend to anyone considering uni as an option to stay in a hall of residence. There is always something going on, someone to talk to and it’s a great way to meet people and to adapt to uni life. Ultimately, this first week at university has taught me that wherever you have come from, whatever school you went to and whoever you may be, there will always be people for you to connect with at university. To use a very overworked and cliché expression, you may have come from being the biggest fish in a small pond to suddenly being Finding Nemo in the ocean. However, I’ve discovered that it doesn’t really matter as we are all very different fish, which has been eye opening and has made this week so much more fun.                       

Beach Day Out in the most beautiful weather!

PS. As a final note, please go to your faculty orientations! (V. helpful info and awesome people)

Until next time, see ya!

xxx